Dr Susi Seibt

Nanotechnology is everywhere, from smartphones to COVID RATs. Understanding the chemistry and physics of nano-sized materials contained within these devices are the reason they work so well, but much remains a mystery due to the fast nature of chemical reactions, or the difficulty with studying real-life objects (like a heart or a lung!) in a lab environment.

To investigate real-life conditions, Dr Susi Seibt’s research uses a tool called microfluidics, which squeezes flasks and tubes from a chemistry lab into tiny devices, filled with networks of channels, valves, mixers, and reaction chambers. These are also called 'lab-on-a-chip'

devices and are revolutionising medical diagnostics as well as chemical and biological analysis. She used these devices in conjunction with X-ray scattering measurements at the Australian Synchrotron during her PhD, on the exact beamline she now works on as a beamline scientist. Susi was the first joint PhD candidate between the University of Bayreuth and the University of Melbourne, fostering many international collaborations.

Susi has always been a passionate science communicator, leading her to start her own Science Youtube channel “Shelium” to ‘edutain’ the public. Due to her German origin, Susi is also very engaged in the Australian-German community.